Nanostructures are used in a variety of applications that require a large surface area of metal oxide or a micro to nanoscale high aspect ratio metal oxide. Gallium and indium nanostructures are of particular importance in a variety of fields, including but not limited to the semiconductor and battery industry, solar energy applications, the development of sensors, transistors, and electrochemical cells, and specialty coatings. Various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein may find particular applicability in one or more of those fields.
The techniques used to make nanostructures, for example, gallium oxide nanostructures, generally involve at least one of physical evaporation, arc-discharge, laser ablation, carbothermal reduction, chemical vapor deposition, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, or a microwave plasma process. These techniques are energy intensive and often require sophisticated equipment and catalysts. The high temperatures and energy requirements, size and cost of the necessary equipment, and problems incurred when removing trapped catalysts make the synthesis of nanostructures costly.